The magnetic effect of winning customers in the first 3 seconds!

Vital20 Communication’s workplace aka the Vital Zone was brimming with enthusiasm.
Creativity flowed like a river and ideas gushed like a waterfall. The colours were all there but the canvas was missing. Soon the question popped up, how do we utilize this gusto and make the most of overflowing creativity?

The team needed new clients. Methods to get in touch with businesses that were in quest of a marketing consultancy were listed down. A brief discussion later, publishing an article won as a collective choice. ET Startups was the newspaper chosen for reaching out to potential customers.

The Article

The article was written in no time and final checks had ensued. The important review before sending the article out was done collectively and one major conflict caught everyone’s attention – Would this article win in 3 seconds?

The first draft was just like an orthodox ad copy; one that falls into vision but never catches an eye. The idea was scrapped without a second thought. If it is written in the Vital Zone, it has to win in a glance.

The word doc was opened again and the team indulged into intense brainstorming. But unlike most ideating sessions, this one ended within 5 minutes. The company’s Vital Grabber, ‘Win customers in the first 3 seconds’, was deemed as the most suitable headline for the article.

Free Grabber

The body could have been completed in the blink of an eye. But ideas were still being discussed to add more value to the article. ‘What do the prospects get after the headline grabs their attention?’ the common voice interrogated.

Every ad copy talks about promises, but how many get delivered? What is it that a customer looks out for when a new service option comes up? Credibility or innovation, maybe? What if a promise is not just made, but also fulfilled? That would be a major differentiator – the team pondered.

The best thing that a client could possibly take from Vital20 Communications would surely be the Vital Grabber. A brief discussion later it was decided that a free Grabber would be provided to the first 50 companies that made an inquiry.

The article was published in ET start-ups on 17th November 2017.

The Vital Effect

The first enquiry came in at 6:30 in the morning, before the alarm clock rang. Calls were being attended while getting done with daily chores, while travelling, while charging the phone and even while having lunch. There was no respite whatsoever.

Fortunately enough, the team had braced itself for the storm that started off early in the morning. One person to attend calls and jot down notes, one to manage the mail and distribute PPTs to copywriters (who were locked inside the cabin devising Grabbers) and one person to acquire the Grabbers and send it to concerned businesses.

The system made work fast but the intensity was relentless. The tea vendor was falling short of chai as countless cups had failed in refuelling busy brains. The only relief came with nature’s call. Dusk had settled in and the volume of calls declined steeply.

A tired look at the excel sheet indicated that 100+ businesses had requested for a grabber. 22 were done on day 1, many had to follow. It was decided that all the enquiries must be provided with a Vital Grabber, the limit of 50 was scrapped.

Aftermath

It took one full week to device Vital Grabbers for all companies that had enquired. The response was overwhelming.

26 businesses were interested in winning customers in the first 3 seconds.

12 Businesses mailed back saying that the Grabber had helped in increasing sales.

34 companies replaced their tagline with the Vital Grabber provided to them.

On the print space, 4-5% of the total enquiries convert into leads. But, this article yielded 12% as 13-16 clients were part of a healthy funnel. 3 clients were converted in the first week after the article was published.